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Class X 
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Ci)FjaiIGHT DEPOSIT. 



MARTIAL LYRICS 



MARTIAL LYRICS 

POEMS o/?//6^ WAR 
/or DEMOCRACY 



ALFRED ANTOINE FURMAN 




1918 
S. L. PARSONS & CO., INC. 

NEW YORK 






Copyright 1918 

BY 

ALFRED ANTOINE FURMAN 



Limited Edition 
250 Copies on White Antique Paper ,, / 
10 Copies on Japanese Vellum fTlTZ -rf 

I 



JUL 22 I9i8 
©CU498807 



TO 

WOODROW WILSON 

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 



ANNOUNCEMENT- 

The poems included in this volume were origin- 
ally published in the Passaic Daily News; and are 
now issued in collected form mainly in compliance 
with requests from members of the National Army. 
These stanzas have been composed during the past 
twelve months as a versified commentary on the 
tragic events which have marked the period from our 
declaration of war against Germany to the date of 
the President's address in Baltimore accepting the 
last challenge of the great military power. Ar- 
ranged in the sequence of their first appearance, 
without alteration, they are offered to the public as 
a reflection of the general patriotic opinion in the 
justice and the ultimate success of the American 

cause. 

The Author. 



CONTENTS- 
•I n 

Page 

To the National Army 15 

The Last Appeal 19 

The Call to Arms 20 

A World in Flames 22 

The Submarine 24 

The Aviator 27 

Marshal Joffre 28 

The Starry Flag 30 

Russia 32 

Memorial Day 33 

Conscription 37 

The Liberty Loan 38 

Two! 39 

The Red Cross 40 

The Mailed Fist 41 

Belgium 42 



12 MARTIAL LYRICS 

Page 

The Italian Envoys 44 

Independence Day : 47 

American Troops in France 48 

Greece Herself Again 49 

The First Battle 50 

Her Soldier Boy 51 

A Modern Goth 52 

To the Pacifists 54 

The Hun Redivivus 56 

The National Army 59 

Ad Vaticanum 60 

The Answer 62 

The Russian Republic 64 

Count Luxburg 66 

To the Kaiser 69 

The New Japan 71 

Brazil 75 

In the Trenches 76 

To Italy 17 

The Bolsheviki 78 

The Allied Line 81 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 13 

Page 

Halifax 82 

The Service Flag 83 

Jerusalem 84 

The Austrian Terms 86 

Alsace-Lorraine 91 

Brest-Litovsk 92 

A German Peace 94 

Our Captain 96 

An Order of the Day 98 

The League of Nations 101 

Chaos 102 

To the Serbians 104 

The Heroic Dead 106 

The Sacrifice 108 

The Invasion of Russia HO 

Camouflage Ill 

The Command of the Seas 112 

Peace by the Sw^ord 115 

Nicholas Romanoff 116 

The Somme 118 

One Year 120 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 15 



TO THE NATIONAL ARMY- 

Hail and farewell! 
Ye sacred sons of liberty and vengeance, 
Bearing a nation's hope you cross the seas, 
Charged with a mission that will sanctify 
Arms even in these days ; yea, nothing less 
Than to protect and save from vandal hands 
The ark of freedom menaced by a foe 
Unscrupulous and strong, in by-gone years 
Living, proud of their evils, glorifying 
The age of iron, their swords drunk with blood. 
Staggering in gulfs where wrecks are strewn of 

bones. 
Guns, uniforms, debris of cities lost, 
Clasped by red ruin, while slow waves of death, 
Creep silent under night's black canopy. 

Farewell but for a time! 
Your face is turned towards the dawn, on the brow 
Of the long future crowned with golden days, 
Steadfastly gazing: to bring on that time 
For wronged humanity you unsheathed the sword. 
Our love wear in your hearts ; remember always 
Your country's arms are strangers to defeat, 



16 MARTIAL LYRICS 

And ask from you that prestige be maintained 
In this the last of wars. Behind you stand 
A hundred million joined in firm resolve, 
Enriched by sorrow, pledged to win the war: 
Clad in such ecstacy of dauntless will 
You shall be vested there with strength of them 
On native soil contending, when you strike 
You lock against the foe all doors of hope, 
And he is vanquished. Thus we wait the issue 
With calmness, ready to greet the new world 
You will prepare for this distracted one 
Departing; and then welcome you with pride 
Back to your homes, to dwell in safety here. 



H 9t 



APRIL i9I7 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 19 



THE LAST APPEAL. 
^ >? 

With patience infinite he stood, 

And viewed with sorrowing eyes, 
A nation wrought to frenzied mood 

By deeds of dark emprise; 
A nation versed in every art, 

A light once to the mind. 
Constrained to play an evil part 

By leaders false and blind. 

With eloquent and fearless pen 

That won a world's applause. 
He pleaded with the blood-drunk men 

To honor human laws; 
But, maddened by the lust of power, 

They rushed from crime to crime, 
Unknowing that their final hour 

Had struck in halls of time. 

In vain was all his zeal for peace, 

In vain his counsels just; 
He saw their violence increase. 

His pleas trod in the dust: 
And then he drew with righteous ire 

The sword long under ban 
But tempered in a holy fire, 

To guard the rights of man. 



20 MARTIAL LYRICS 



THE CALL TO ARMS* 

The giant slept. Prosperity, 

Aloofness, and the sense of being free, 

Relaxed his ardor and his vigilance. 

At peace and in security he looked askance 

On nations yoked to military arts. 

His cities, ports and marts 

With industry were vocal; in his lap 

Commerce poured unimagined wealth to wrap 

His soul in languor: the sublimer air. 

In other days his common fare, 

Was now unknown, or all too rare. 

The giant woke. His wide domain 

Drenched with a golden rain, 

Was spread in happiness before his smiling eyes. 

But, hark! what sounds arise 

Borne by each wind from Europe's shore! 

The war ignored, so distant once, is at his door. 

He hears at last the cannons roar; 

Angered, he views his ships on every sea 

For ages long held sacred, free. 

Sunk with their human freight. 

And shall he wait 

Crouching among the powers, emasculate. 

To drink the cup his foes with insults fill; 

Or rise and feel once more the generous thrill 

That proves he is a warrior still? 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 21 

The giant rose. But can his steps unsteady, slow. 

Be match for such a daring foe? 

Ay ! he will buckle on his sleeping sword, 

And scorn his blood to hoard 

When honor calls. 

Peace he adores, and in her beauteous halls 

Would ever dwell ; but in the mire of shame 

He will not drag his noble name, 

His splendid fame; 

And as the trumpets blow, and the drums beat. 

He cheerfully will leave his pleasant seat 

To follow with a confidence complete 

That banner which has never known defeat. 



JJ? VL 



22 MARTIAL LYRICS 



A WORLD IN FLAMES- 

Fate said: the ancient order wearies me; 

I would have changes on each land and sea, 

Nature, I own, loves change ; but she is slow, 

Dissatisfied like me, but creeping: I will show 

That patient dame the proper pace to go. 

Kings have I used to govern foolish men ; 

But they are wedded to the past, and have no ken, 

No vision of the future when this earth 

Like one awakening to a glorious birth 

In some far sphere, shall feel herself full-grown. 

And, self-reliant, free, come to her own. 

Fate wore a mocking smile, and saw 
With a disdainful pride his will made law; 
For he can knead bread out of stones. 
And beauty draw from dead men's bones. 
He roams thro chaos ; where the earthquake swells 
And crimson ruin follows, there he dwells; 
Majestic seas in the primeval night 
Submerging continents, were his delight; 
And with a malice silent, cold, he stains 
The clear white vase of hope man forms to ease 
his pains. 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 23 

The tragedy was opened as the author planned, 

Its dread scenes shifted by a master hand. 

First rang upon the summer air a short sharp 

sound : 
An empire's heir sank on the bloody ground. 
That startling prelude lit a powder train 
Which ran thro nations, and flamed up again. 
In passions sleeping long : 
Reason was drowned in gulfs of wrong. 
In vain resisting, charmed and bound. 
Each country in the fatal maelstrom found 
Its people drawn, the purple waves of war 
In thunder dashing madly on its shore; 
Ocean with victims strewn, and his dark bed 
Filled with the innocent and guilty dead, 
The astonished lands resounding with alarms 
As bugles call the strong and brave to arms. 
And patriot women steel the poor sick heart 
In tears to sacrifice its dearest part; 
While Fate in more than jovial mood 
Views from his gloomy solitude 
The world in flames, the trophy to be won 
A new position in the sun. 



H K 



24 MARTIAL LYRICS 



THE SUBMARINE- 

What new possessor of the deep 

Is ranging swift its waters wide, 

A stranger to the bands that keep 

Their vigils in the restless tide; 

And on it gaze with sleepless eye 

As its dark figure rushes by? 

Is it content the sea to roam, 

Seeking its prey in his dim wild; 

To speed along the sparkling foam 

Or float like some shy mermaid's child, 

And hide within the tawny caves 

With echoes of the tropic waves? 

No! this is man bereft of soul, 

In war delighting as of yore ; 
But having drained her bloody bowl 

In every land, he leaves the shore 
To spread the slimy, silent bed 
Of ocean with his hapless dead. 

Aghast, the ancients of the sea 

Who only slay when hunger calls, 

From such relentless spoilers flee 

To their remotest emerald halls; 

Since in those realms it was unknown 

To slaughter for revenge alone. 



MAY I9t7 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 27 



THE AVIATOR. 

To C. W. C. 

I? •? 

A comrade of the clouds, the eagle's heir. 
Borne by the courteous winds, 

He calmly floats, and in the prospect fair 
A rapture finds. 

Earth spread beneath, the dazzling sun above, 

Around a purer clime. 
His spirit revels in a newer love, 

A life sublime. 

But from his palace in ancestral skies. 

The warrior bird looks down; 
And, as such alien rival he descries, 

He wears a frown. 

For this new comer carries in his hands, 
Weapons long called his own. 

To hurl upon the sad and stricken lands 
From his blue throne. 

No longer dream to rule as sovereign there, 

But tribute to man bring; 
Since he has made a conquest of the air. 

And reigns her king. 



28 MARTIAL LYRICS 



MARSHAL JOFFRE. 
t^ •? 

Guest of the nation, feted, cheered, 
To us for noble France endeared, 
The hand of welcome we extend. 
And to your martial genius bend. 

Rest here betimes; in honor rest; 
Your triumph fusing in our breast 
A steadfast valor to complete 
Your crafty foes' ordained defeat. 

Dream; and in fancy see again 
The Huns descend on Chalons plain; 
A million strong, resolved to lay 
Your beauteous land beneath their sway. 

Before their ruthless march your ranks 
Fall slowly backward to the banks 
Of the sad Marne, where once before 
Their prototypes went down in gore. 

The Marne! blest omen! it awakes 
A glorious memory that makes 
Your arm resistless; and the foe 
Before such rampart melts like snow. 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 29 

Like Attila's, the invading horde 
Beat vainly 'gainst a patriot sv^ord; 
Like his barbarians, turn and flee, 
And leave your bleeding country, free. 

On Fame's immortal tongue shall dwell 
The prodigy you wrought so well; 
While Glory keeps for ever green 
The laurels of that tragic scene! 



»t H 



30 MARTIAL LYRICS 



THE STARRY FLAG. 

To Lt. R, G, P. 

^ ft? 

How beautiful it floats, kissed by the sun 
So tenderly, as he regretted earth had won 
Such splendid treasures from his native skies; 
The imperial red that typifies 
Billows of life which climb and foam 
On planet shores where ceaseless roam 
His fecundating rays, the gleaming white 
Born of those trembling shafts of light 
Which from his golden bosom fall; 
The radiant blue whose glories so enthrall 
The sovereign stars they hasten at his call 
To emblazon high this standard virginal 
On borrowed hues from his cerulean hall. 

And round this ensign fair, below, above, 

Twined in a firm enduring love 

For this last struggle of the world 

Against oppression, see unfurled 

The winsome banner of those nations proud 

With it allied, and, desperate, vowed 

To rescue freedom, or to be its shroud. 

In these so anxious, so uncertain days, 
Upon those symbols feed your troubled gaze, 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 31 

Ye peoples who are free; 

And if you wish your sons to be 

Heirs to that precious liberty, 

Learn that your freedom so adored 

Must be defended by the sword; 

And if you falter now, 

And to the feudal leaders bow, 

And liberty surrender to their lust. 

And let them trail those banners in the dust, 

The dykes that guarded your dear land 

Are swept away; and that unholy band 

In dungeons of a dying past 

You, pitiless, will cast, 

And in long darkness bind you fast ; 

And Satan, gloating, will again have trod 

Beneath his feet the eternal days of God. 



v', n 



32 MARTIAL LYRICS 



RUSSIA. 

What thing was it the soldier's boot 

Struck down, where in the dust, prone, mute, 

It helpless lies? The Russian throne! 

Was that the object we had known 

Standing in darkness and in blood 

That weltered 'neath another flood 

Of curses deep yet breathed in vain? 

That proudly rose amid the slain. 

Begirt with bayonet and sword, 

And grimly shaking knout and cord? 

That dwelt in autocratic night 

While Freedom poured her charming light 

On more and more of earth? And has one blow, 

One only blow, thus laid the monster low! 

Man changes; and the right divine 

Possesses now a single shrine — 

On German soil, and where the Turk 

Still plies his old congenial work 

Of murdering Christians in the land 

Where first the cross was planted. Grand. 

Appropriate, is such brotherhood ! 

But evolution strives for good; 

And let us hope the scales will fall 

From Teuton eyes, and to the call 

Of a world-wide democracy 

They will at last responsive be; 

Sending their Kaiser to some distant shore, 

Uncrowned, to study in that modern lore. 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 33 



MEMORIAL DAY* 

With fragrant breath, and smiling face, 
The gentle May comes on apace, — 
Returns to fill her flowery urn; 
But never more will they return, 
Who sleep beneath the hallowed sod 
Our reverent feet have yearly trod. 

Then, weeping, lay upon their grave 
A floral tribute to the brave 
Who calmly ansv/ered that great call 
The nation made ; and gave it all — 
All that they had, with patriot pride; 
And for us struggled, for us died. 



^ ^ 



JUNE J9J7 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 37 



CONSCRIPTION- 

We have been selfish ; we have thought 

All we were lacking would be brought 

By time and fortune, as we played 

And danced a hornpipe in the shade; 

That life would sow her joys so thick 

We need but lift our hand and pick 

The luscious fruit; her enchanted cup 

Raise to our lips, and bhss drink up; 

Walk sheltered ways, our happy land 

Protected by an unseen hand; 

And if sweet peace were still our guest, 

Feel that some kindly fate would wrest 

From the grim king of war his scepter soon; 

While we sang ditties 'neath the lady moon. 

Not yet such hour! In our vexed world 
The old black banner is unfurled 
That stifles freedom like a pall, 
And seeks dominion over all ; 
Sneers at zeal for humanity, 
At sufferings dire on land and sea; 
Treaties disdaining; to no law 
Submitting, save the dragon's paw. 
The hungry beak, the ravin claw. 
To smite the nations and to awe. 
But now we leave the life we led. 
And boldly meet this terror dread; 
To guard till death our noble legacy, 
To vindicate our privilege to be free. 



38 MARTIAL LYRICS 



THE LIBERTY LOAN* 

^ >s 
As lightning from an angry cloud 
Leaps, courier of the thunder loud 
That follows, grumbling, from his misty lair, 
And crashes on the banks of upper air, 
So to the nation's solemn call 
The youthful hosts from cot and hall 
Came thronging, eager to display 
Their ardor for the martial fray. 
Brave hearts! The countrys' genuine soul! 
Exalted so, no longer in the roll 
Of common men to stand. 
But paladins of freedom who command 
Our affection as a Spartan band 
To guard and save their threatened land. 

If they give life, can you not give 

A lesser thing so that the state may live 

To shed upon the waking earth 

The glorious light which here had birth? 

Subscribe, and then subscribe again, 

To those new bonds that do not chain ; 

Those gentle bonds that keep you free, 

And pledge the world to a democracy. 

You can not lose; on your sure side 

The calm, majestic laws of right abide 

Which in this ordered, steadfast universe, 

Can never be repealed. Beneath the curse 

Of goodness writhes your sanguinary foe; 

Now deal his cankered heart a staggering blow! 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 39 



TWO! 

Crowns at a discount; who will buy? 
But few remain, and the supply, 
My friends, is growing smaller : soon 
They will be scarce as snow in June. 
Buy now, and we will give you, free, 
A faithful guard whose care shall be 
To watch your treasure constantly ; 
And when the people murmur, see 
Its golden bands are fitted tight 
Around your temples, day and night. 

We offered you a month ago 

A bargain in this line, you know, — 

The Russian crown ablaze with gems, 

A choice one in our diadems. 

The next will even finer be ; 

A bauble made in Germany. 

Already from the owner's brow 

It topples ; and you will allow 

It is the thing you should possess : 

Our *'ads" watch in the daily press 



^ ^ 



40 MARTIAL LYRICS 



THE RED CROSS, 

For hours since from her lattice in the east 

The lily hand of morn was seen, till ceased 

The weary footsteps of the pilgrim day 

At gates of night, was waged the mortal fray. 

The cannon thundered, the shrill rifle spoke 

Its fierce staccato thro the sullen smoke 

Which wrapped the contested field till the slow fail 

Of darkness threw a sympathetic pall 

Over the foes, the living and the dead 

Together resting in one bloody bed. 

Across this sea of passion came the bark 

Of kindness to relieve the misery stark; 

To carry from the desolated field 

The stricken, and the brave ones who had sealed 

Their devotion with their lives; with gentle hands 

To weave on wounds a web of grateful bands; 

To cool the parching tongue; to soothe the brow 

Knitted with pain; the body to endow 

With a new fund of strength; to cheer, condole. 

And drop some comforts in the troubled soul. 

O inconsistent man ! first to destroy ; 

And then, repenting, agencies employ 

To repair in slight degree your own dark deeds! 

From council of the primal blood that breeds 

Such ignoble rage, expel the baser germ 

Which strife incites and feeds the endless worm! 

Meanwhile, support in every human way 

Those noble hearts which, housed in finer clay, 

Live as a prophecy of that superior day 

Our earth shall know when war has lost his swa}^ 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 41 



THE MAILED FIST, 

I? n 
William, your much-consoling telegram received, 
With thanks for sympathy to one bereaved, 
And in the sacred cause of heaven-sent kings 
So suffering. I v^ill go to you on v^ings, 
Leaving this darkened land with bitter scorn 
To dwell with you in the inspiring morn 
Of autocratic and unbridled power 
Where never clouds of stormy freedom lower. 
I did my little bit to hold the foe 
From striking at your flank, when you laid low 
Rumania's pride ; I kept a secret base 
For German submarines whence they would chase 
The Allied merchantmen, and sink at night 
Men, women, children, with a fierce delight. 
And now I must confess with deep regret, 
I can not pay more of the enormous debt 
Owing for your great teachings in the art 
Of Kultur, and I am not perfect in your part 
Of shooting women, dropping bombs on schools, 
To show the workings of that Kultur's rules. 
But till your shining armor on our shore 
Appears, and your sword rattles, to restore 
My kingdom and my crown, I fain would sit 
Down at your feet, your wisdom and your wit 
Long drinking, when your labors will permit; 
And study how we should our purpose screen. 
And never to the side of mercy lean — 
My bosom is convulsed with sorrow keen — 
William, I can no more. Love from the Queen, 
Your sister; tears from your crownless Constantine. 



42 MARTIAL LYRICS 



BELGIUM. 

Ravished, and to the den 

Of godless men, 

Borne pale and drooping, there to expiate 

Your bold defiance to a barbarous state; 

Your peaceful fields made desolate; 

Your cities plundered; and your people sent 

Into a cruel banishment! 

The shrines of art; 

The altars of religion where the heart 

Could wrap herself in light 

Falling from darkest night, — 

Those treasures which your pagan foes 

Held in respect, the Prussian overthrows! 

I travelled in your pleasant land; 
I grasped the cordial hand 
Of many a friend upon your busy soil ; 
I lived beneath their roofs, witnessed the honest toil 
By which they earned the right 
To dwell with peace in freedom's cherished light. 
And now those friends are dead, 
Untimely perished in the dripping bed 
Of ruthless war; 
Or, ruined, wander far 
In other lands, the fading star 
Of hope declining; with an eye 
Clouded with tears and dazed by a strange sky; 
Crushed by misfortunes stranger still, and wonder- 
ing why. 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 43 

Can these deeds be 

On threshold of a century 

Termed civilized? Alas! once more is right 

Stabbed to the heart in house of might. 

And shall we idly claim that Providence 

Is nov^ on trial; ay, should in its own defense 

Be manifest behind the flouted laws 

Of justice, and defend a sacred cause? 

With hideous glee 

The despots mock such piety. 

With arms alone we may in sadness say 

To Belgians yet alive : A retributive day 

Comes after your long night of sorrow and dismay : 

A great avenger is upon the way. 



n IS 



44 MARTIAL LYRICS 



THE ITALIAN ENVOYS. 

You come to us from that historic land 
Which was the nurse of laws, the home of art, 
In far-off times, ere we had claimed a part 
Among the nations. From the Ausonian strand 
Have we received, poured with a bountiful hand. 
The greatest gifts, — music to soothe the heart, 
Religion, letters, fame of deeds which start 
New fires even in the blood born to command. 
And for such legacy how shall we pay 
Your nation fighting for its liberty? 
Our unmeasured credit at your feet we lay ; 
Our vast resources ; men who bend the knee 
To not a power on earth. Drive fear away; 
Press to your lips the cup of victory! 



^ ^, 



JULY-AUGUST J9t7 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 47 



INDEPENDENCE DAY. 

'Mid foes, at home and from abroad, 

We planted with a feeble sword 

Our derided freedom on this day. 

The tempest flower grew in the ray 

Of an eternal sun whose light 

Incessant struggled with the night 

Of that delightful slavery 

In minds that hated to be free. 

We keep that banner in the sky, 

In language dumb to testify 

Of nobler ages for the world; 

And proudly are its stars unfurled 

Before the malignant enemies 

Of freedom here and overseas, 

Who vainly battle and conspire 

To extinguish on the earth that mystic fire. 



^ H 



48 MARTIAL LYRICS 



AMERICAN TROOPS IN FRANCE. 

Long years ago, Europe sent in the wilderness 
To found new states and in the rough caress 
Of nature soberly to dwell, her strong and brave; 
And now in Europe's day of danger and distress, 
The childrens' children turn with tenderness 
To their afflicted parent; and the blood she gave 
Give back again, resolved to guard and save 
Her threatened life, and dig oppression's grave. 



H H 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 49 



GREECE HERSELF AGAIN* 

No more you dally with the hoary wrong; 
No more my city of the violet crown, 
Forgetful of her unapproached renown, 
Permits the tyrant's boastful slaves to throng 
Those templed hills where wisdom, sculpture, song. 
Dwelt with the gods. No barbaric waves could 

drown 
The bark of knowledge which your schools sent 

down 
The stream of time to keep our spirits strong. 
Today we see your genuine soul revealed: 
Epaminondas lives for you again; 
From Marathon a soldier comes to wield 
That puissant sword which broke the Persian chain ; 
And the great Spartan sleeping on his shield 
Dreams that his sacrifice was not in vain. 



«t «l 



50 MARTIAL LYRICS 



THE FIRST BATTLE. 

The navy leads; a deadly blow 

Is planted on the treacherous foe; 

Nor friendly night, nor ambuscade 

Deep in the silent ocean laid, 

Could help the sea wolves where they lay 

With gaunt teeth gnashing in the spray, 

To spring upon their fearless prey, 

And in his back to smite and slay. 

In quick succession from their lair 
The dread torpedoes cut the air; 
But harmless speed by bow and stern, 
And the affrighted waters churn. 
Our steady guns indignant speak. 
And on the dastards instant wreak 
The doom their fiendish crimes demand 
From man's aroused, avenging hand. 

They sleep beneath the solemn sea 
In shrouds of endless infamy; 
While those devoted men whose life 
They sought by this unmanly strife. 
Live, and press on to strike the knell 
Of them who to dishonor sell 
A name that once was truly crowned 
For valor, and for worth renowned. 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 51 



HER SOLDIER BOY. 

m I? 

The bugles blow, and beat the drums, 

And proudly flash your eyes ; 
But over me a faintness comes, 

And all my words are sighs; 
A sadness wraps my chilly heart ; 

My lips can only moan. 
That now we must so weeping part, 

And I shall be alone. 

But when you tread the fighting line, 

And screams the bursting shell, 
My love your image will enshrine. 

And by your side will dwell; 
And it will nerve your arm with power 

To conquer every foe, 
And hasten back that blissful hour 

That only we can know. 

For I will think of you by day. 

And dream of you at night; 
And chide the time that keeps away 

My darhng dear delight; 
But when I see your face again. 

And when I hear your voice, 
I will forget this grief and pain. 

And bid my heart rejoice. 



52 MARTIAL LYRICS 



A MODERN GOTH. 

With deep-laid plans and endless files 
Of soldiers trained to do his will, 

The war-lord draws his sword, and smiles 
To see the world with horror thrill. 

He scorns the paths of peace to tread 
By which his subjects slowly rose; 

But yearns for war to strike with dread 
Earth, and on it his bonds impose. 

The methods of the feudal times 
He w^ould continue in this age; — 

The tyranny, the brutal crimes 
Which stain the sad historic page. 

As springs a lion on the fold, 
As sweeps the mighty eagle down, 

His iron chariot ruthless rolled 
Thro quiet hamlet, busy town. 

He called his master from below, 

To aid him in devising ways 
To swell the tide of death and woe, 

As in their dear departed days. 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 53 

Those days the world has now outgrown, 

And never more desires to see, 
When drunk with power the guilty throne 

Stood on the neck of liberty. 

Supported by an abject land. 

He tramples law beneath his feet; 

And, shameless, shakes his dripping brand 
And deems his barbarous sway complete. 

And if his foes would still preserve 
The timid progress time has made, 

They must strain every fearless nerve 
To shatter that triumphant blade. 



»?. *? 



54 MARTIAL LYRICS 



TO THE PACIFISTS. 

Fain would I dwell in quietude, 

Serenely on the isle of peace, 
Far from the world's convulsions rude; 

And sign with time a long, long lease 
To live this only certain life 
Unvexed by yoke of rage and strife. 

But at our throats a maniac leaps. 
And brandishes a torch and sword; 

And mother earth in panic keeps 
By wild ambition, plots abhorred. 

To bring beneath his brutal sway 

All nations as his proper prey. 

Have you condoned his senseless crimes. 
Lands ruined where his soldiers tread? 

And heard you not the mournful chimes 
That tolled our Lusitania dead? 

His blasphemy in calling God 

To sanctify the devil's rod? 

Then turn to him, and lay your pleas 
Down humbly at his bloody feet; 

Or bid his dazzled subjects seize 
Their fetich, and in barred retreat 

Confine him with that rabid crew 

Who 'gainst the peace their weapons drew. 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 55 

For that the harried world will praise 
Your zeal; and treason, too, forgive; 

But we must still pursue our ways 

To end the scourge, that some may live; 

And when we shall have rung its knell, 

And buried it, all will be well. 



n H 



56 MARTIAL LYRICS 



THE HUN REDIVIVUS. 

A strange thing occupies the stage 
Confusing all, the dull and sage, — 
A government bequeathed by time. 
Unchanged, from that mephitic clime 
Of soul — oppressing, lawless power 
Which everywhere has had its hour. 
Has vanished from the tortured lands. 
Save where the Prussian lord commands. 

In fairest quarters of the world 
Its loathsome body is uncurled ; 
And crawls in silent, devious roads, 
To strangle in those cruel modes 
So long prevailing on the earth, 
The child of freedom at its birth; 
Making its dark and slimy den 
The refuge of ignoble men. 

But progress can not thus be chained; 
Nor lost the age — long trophies gained 
By those stern, famished hearts that gave 
Life rather than remain a slave: 
The challenged nations with one mind, 
To banish tyranny, combined; 
And, chartered by divine decree, 
Struggle to set all peoples free. 



SEPTEMBER 19 1 7 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 59 



THE NATIONAL ARMY, 
To ]. J. B. 

We come from all States of the nation to pledge 

Our lives and our fortunes anew; 
To stand on the battle's grim perilous edge, 

'Neath the folds of the red, white and blue; 
The hamlets and cities are arming with zeal. 

From office, from smithy and farm, 
To prove that the country's great danger they feel, 

And to save the Republic from harm. 

We had hoped that the era of war had gone by. 

The blessings of peace would be ours; 
Those blessings once more the wild Prussians deny, 

And demand we submit to their powers; 
But their yoke we despise, and will never assume 

While we draw on this planet a breath; 
For blindly they rush on a merited doom 

As we guard the Republic till death. 

These foes of our freedom are many and strong, 

The struggle ferociously wage; 
But triumph to them should only belong 

Who can temper with mercy their rage; 
Who, armed in defence of the perishing right, 

Will refuse the defenceless to slay, 
But the bloody despoiler will fearlessly smite 

To preserve the Republic for aye. 



60 MARTIAL LYRICS 



AD VATICANUM 

With you, Most Holy Father, we lament 

The fatal passion that so reckless bent 

Men's feet upon war's dark and desperate road. 

For centuries the bloody tide has flowed 

Over your fairest lands ; and e'er the stain 

Of the last dried, the red stream starts again. ' 

The millions who have laid their costly lives 

Down for their country, leave not only wives. 

Parents and children here to shed long tears. 

Tears unavailing; but their timeless biers 

Rob this poor world of what is not replaced — 

Those sparks of genius which our race have graced 

In every art that can the soul delight, 

But sleeping now in ever-during night. 

Tis time, O Vicar of the Prince of Peace, 
This futile holocaust of men should cease ; 
That reason should wring out the tiger drops 
Which lurk in human blood, or progress stops. 
These years forbid that man should still pursue 
His wonted orgies when the world was new ; 
And he, just manumitted by his tyrant earth. 
Was all unconscious of that inner worth 
The ages would reveal; and which would raise 
This life to level of supernal days. 
The agent, then, of darkness here below 
Sternly should be repressed, and made to know 
He is a cancer in this Christian life. 
Which must be cut out with relentless knife. 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 61 

The hand is raised that will inflict his doom, 
And rescue nations from the portentous gloom 
He threatens in their tranquil noon; but prayer 
From your annointed lips, may unaware 
Creep in his breast, and soften his cold heart ; 
Till he consent to play a righteous part, 
And ofifer the sacrifice that may be won, 
In solitude, by grace of Mary's Son. 



62 MARTIAL LYRICS 



THE ANSWER. 

In crystal words that he may read who runs, 
The President dedines a truce ; and brands 
With scorn the Hohenzollern perfidy. 
The patriotic nation will applaud 
This wise and just decision ; and perceive 
There lies the basis of a lasting peace. 

Of old aggressive were the Prussian kings: 

Poland partitioned; rich Silesia seized; 

Alsace-Lorraine torn from its mother's side, 

Attest their crimes, the crimes they gloried in. 

But those were minor infamies compared 

With their last plans to dominate the world. 

France beaten down ; Russia by her Tsar betrayed. 

In separate peace to travel hand in hand 

With his exampler; neighboring lands annexed; 

The British empire struck in vital parts. 

Divided, and its golden colonies 

Hung at their girdle; virgin continents. 

Washed by the Southern seas, to taste no more 

The wine of independence; Panama, 

Harbor and toll-gate of the German fleet, — 

Such were the schemes wove in their cabinet. 

Atrocities they cared not to conceal. 

And which had made imperial Rome to seem 

A novice merely in her palmiest days. 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 63 

But now those plots have failed; balked and un- 
masked, 
The criminals solicit peace, to rest 
And, later, spring, with power that grows from pain, 
On their devoted prey. The age says. No! 
The baleful star of grey autocracy 
Is setting; and in skies political 
Only the milder orbs will be discerned 
Of governments the people minister. 



«? H 



64 MARTIAL LYRICS 



THE RUSSIAN REPUBLIC 

Out of the night 

Into the light, 
Not thro the pure, the placid dawn 
Around the steps of June in beauty drawn; 

But to a morn 

On clouds of anguish born, 
In retinue of storms — the lightning's flash 
Close followed by the peeling crash 
Of thunder, as it stumbled on behind 
Loud stammering in fierce joy, exultant, unconfined. 
While in its shrouded car the reckless wind 
Dashed by in madness, wailing, deaf and blind: 

Such was your birth 

Amid the ghastly mirth 
Of this oppressed, infuriated earth. 

Sad child! 
Come to a heritage so dismal, desperate, wild; — 

This scene of chaos wide 
Lapped by a tide of blood on every side, 

Where idly tossed 

The treasures lost — 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 65 

Fragments of crowns, a myriad glistening bones 
Thick strewn of men whose lives were tears and 

groans, 
Grim instruments of torture, whips, knouts, chains. 
Relics of prisons, palaces and fanes , 

Where every God was worshipped man could find 
Within the borders of his fertile mind ; 
While in your country's side is fastened deep 
Fangs of a foe whose hate will never sleep ! 

Or have you, full-armed, sprung 
From brain of destiny, old but yet young, 

To add your vast domain 
To the beneficent and constant-growing reign 
Of equal government throughout the world; 
And when the last arch-despot shall be hurled 
Down steeps of ruin, then to take your place, 
For freedom by the side of that heroic race 

Which has, thro age — long night, 

Waged the stern fight; 
And over time's dark, weltering sea. 
Held up, unfaltering, the torch of liberty? 



*i n 



66 MARTIAL LYRICS 

COUNT LUXBURG* 

Spurlos Versenkt. Sink them and leave no trace ! 

Ay, dead men tell no tales, and in the race 

For world dominion, and our destined place 

In the great sun, we can not, will not be 

Fettered by scruples of humanity. 

We preach the iron gospel of the strong 

Revised to date, that to the elect belong 

Earth and her peoples; and disdain the creed 

Of equal rights as but a broken reed 

To lean on, when you come to govern men. 

The German is a docile citizen ; 
He does not wish to breathe the alien air 
Of freedom; but will blindly follow where 
Our royal master leads. He hugs his chain, 
And never dreams to murmur or complain ; 
But willingly will drag our imperial car 
To all un-Kultured nations near and far. 
Our propaganda, plots and infamies 
He will condone if crowned with victories ; 
If foreign lands are brought beneath the yoke, 
And England's sea supremacy is broke, 
Which has till now been interposed to shield 
Our foes from the gigantic force we wield. 
Bidding us dwell in fear our fate was sealed. 

The U boat is the surest instrument 
That science to our ready hand has lent; 
And ruthlessly it must be used to set 
Our brows within the dreaded coronet 
Of universal power, on that proud throne 
All countries ruling firmly — like our own, 



OCTOBER J9I7 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 69 



TO THE KAISER. 

We read your answer to the Pope ; 
And if the nations nursed a hope 
You had sustained some change of heart 
With that delusion let them part. 
We see the same intriguing hand 
And mind which so audacious planned 
The conquest of the world; and now 
Foiled, studying with a knitted brow 
How to ensnare your enemies 
With platitudes and fallacies. 

You speak of morals, lift your eyes 
With pious unction to the skies; 
And seek to sweep away the flood 
Of innocent, accusing blood 
Mounting around you, as you draw 
Into the jungle there to gnaw 
The file, and wipe your dripping jaw 
Again clean ; you who know no law 
Save your own will, and standing there 
With flaming eyes cry : "Earth, beware !' 



70 MARTIAL LYRICS 

Waste no more time on terms of peace; 
Your hollow machinations cease : 
In Berlin will the Allies write 
The terms of peace, and the dread night 
Of your dominion end, — a reign 
Anomalous, and now in vain. 
But choose some island of the sea 
Where, far removed from royalty. 
You may sigh out your span of life 
When men have bid adieu to strife. 



^ ^ 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 71 



THE NEW JAPAN, 

Land of the rising sun, 
Gleaming on Asia's brow an urn of light 
To pioneer your sister nations from the night 

Of old opinion to the day 

Slow-dawning of the peoples' sway, 

From wars so long ago begun, 
So slowly from the banded despots won ! 

Two thousand years your dynasty can claim 
The fealty of those hidden isles ; 

Recluses, self-contained, unknown to fame, 
And careless of its frowns or smiles ; 

Steeped in the Buddhist faith which life beguiles 

Of action, its great wish to be the guest 

Of quietude in halls of endless rest, — 

These creeds thrown by, you grasp the sword 
And take your station, proud, unawed, 

By them resolved to chain the Prussian lord. 

One effort more we lay aside the brand, 
Peace brooding over every land. 
The peace of freedom. China draws 
Her milHons to the holy cause; 
And in Arabia's burning sand 
The long oppressed their rights demand. 
East stretches to the west a hand 



72 MARTIAL LYRICS 

Of fellowship; the end comes on apace: 
In narrower and still more narrow space 
The scorpion is enclosed, his sting 
Himself destroying in that fiery ring; 
And as the nations of the world 
Have, one by one, their flags unfurled 

Against the universal foe. 
We joy to see your crimson planet glow 
Amid our stars ; and may it travel by their side 
Till all the powers in bay of peace at anchor ride ! 



H m 



NOVEMBER t9t7 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 75 



BRAZIL. 

One foeman more throws down the angry glove 

To challenge German conquest of the world ; 

Another sword unsheathed against the crime 

That sought to turn the tide of progress back, 

And on the neck of freeman bind again 

The yoke of kings ! The struggles of the past, 

The martyrdom of men who blazed by death 

A road to liberty, were all in vain 

If this irruption of the modern Huns 

Be crowned with triumph. And the splendid dawn 

Of wise and philosophic government, 

On justice founded, and fraternity, 

To test supremely all our human powers. 

Muffled in stormy clouds perforce would fade 

Into an early night, and glorious hopes 

Untimely perish, like the hapless flowers 

When frost in darkness raids. But to transmit 

Our valued legacy we drew the sword. 

And welcome to our stern, devoted ranks 

All forward nations, every manly soul. 

Your green and yellow typify the sea. 

And the bright orb which life bestows on all: 

That symbol shall your sister nations call 

To rally at your side, and keep you free ! 



76 MARTIAL LYRICS 

IN THE TRENCHES. 

Hurrah! Bravo! 
You face the foe 
With hearts aglow, 
Prepared to deal the deadly blow! 

Across the sea 
You saw the beauteous form of liberty 

Assaulted, stricken down, 
In cherished haunts of field and town ; 
And perishing beneath the mortal frown 

Of ancient tyranny, 

For daring to be free; 
And faithful to your land's renown, 
You drew against the Prussian crown, 
To end for aye its odious reign. 
The sword that never has been drawn in vain. 

First at the front 

To bear the brunt 
Of battle, in your footsteps millions tread, 
Resolved like you, their blood to shed 

To save the freedom that was won 

So hardly by each sire and son 

In other troubled days ; 
And sternly keep its torch ablaze 

For millions yet to come. 
When cannons shall at last be dumb, 
And rolls no more the martial drum 
Save in a paean o'er the despot's grave 
With chorus by the bravest of the brave. 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 77 

TO ITALY. 

With fury of a hurricane 

The German hordes pour down again 

On your ensanguined plain, 

As in the days of old; 

But with a spirit firm and bold 

Bequeathed by men of noblest mould, 

You meet with death — devoted swords 

Those havoc lords, 

And hurl them in a bloody grave, 

Or sink them in Piave's wave. 

Against this sudden and malignant shock 

Stand ever like your Alpine rock. 

That on cold steel 

Your foes may their invasion seal ; 

While in that hallowed ground 

The shade of your progenitors renowned 

Gather, and lend your arm 

An energy and occult charm 

To still preserve among the free 

The land of law and liberty. 



•S •! 



7S MARTIAL LYRICS 

THE BOLSHEVIKL 
•s It 

The elephant of empires overthrown 

By forces its own tyranny had sown, 

Prostrate and bound 

Lies quivering with a mortal wound; 

The class so long oppressed 

In one great day mounts to the crest 

Of power, and the most gorgeous diadem 

By monarchs worn, pales to a tinsel gem, — 

The symbol of a furious vanity 

To which men, worshipping, for ages bent the knee. 

The moral ground is heaving thro the world: 
From their proud pedestals are despots hurled. 
And made their policies to rue 
By them who wood had hewn and water drew ; 
Earthquakes political are toppling down.' 
Systems and creeds of old renown; 
On every field of privilege and pride 
The lava streams of new opinions glide. 
Subduing caste, and placing in the common hand 
The terrible power its own fate to command. 

Be wise, O Russian proletariat, in this strange day 

Of your so great and sudden sway: 

An empire wider than the Roman once enjoyed 

By you will be made glorious, or destroyed: 

Peace is not all; honor, honor is first. 

Which, lacking, your position is accurst. 

Be wise as serpents, as discreet; 

The foe with whom you go to treat 

Is in all honorable lands abhorred, 

And knows no fealty but to the sword. 



DECEMBER 1 91 7 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 81 



THE ALLIED LINE. 

It stretches from the Northern sea 

Thro plains and mountains where the free 

By instinct make their home, to Adria's wave 

Whose violet billows kiss and lave 

The feet of Venice, in decay 

More beautiful than in her youthful day. 

Behind that line what spectral bodies loom 
Hallowed, ennobled by the tomb, 
Nerving the brave and strong 
Still living, to avenge their wrong; 
Defending unto death the cause sublime 
For which they gave in life's sweet prime. 
Whose garden is with every rapture sown, 
The fullest measure of devotion known. 

At every hazard let this martial shrine 

Be held against the foe malign: 

The hoarded jewel of the centuries 

Dwells in its casket which the Hun would seize, 

To open with the sword ; 

While every Junker — lord 

In savage glee would gloat 

As liberty's defenseless form he smote. 

And flung it with contempt in that black moat 

Of thralldom over which his sullied banners float. 



82 MARTIAL LYRICS 



HALIFAX. 

The stricken city lies 

Beneath implacable and cruel skies, 

In winding sheet of snow, 

While fiercely range and hoarsely blow 

Its adjutants, the wrathful winds ; 

And marching in their wake death finds 

A greater feast than he had dared to hope 

Spread for him on that ruined slope 

Which but one treacherous hour before 

A happy population bore. 

O pitiful humanity, 

On life's unfathomed. enigmatic sea 

Drifting so helplessly. 

And shadowed by an old supernal curse. 

An orphan in the universe ; 

And tho you wander thus forlorn 

To unknown shores, the outcast or the scorn 

Of sleepless eyes that see unseen 

From an abode unchanging and serene, 

To make your fortunes darker still. 

By fierce ambition and ungoverned will. 

To devastate by fire and sword 

This earth of which you be the rightful lord. 

And which thro ages will bestow 

The only life of which we know. 

And graced by wiser minds might be 

A palace of felicity ! 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 83 



THE SERVICE FLAG. 

•I I? 

I see it on the morning sky 

In simple beauty streaming; 
Or in the lattice pensive lie 

Where loving eyes are beaming: 
Its crimson tokens then recall 

Life's stream thro marble gleaming, 
Its stars those steps which no more fall 

Where now our hearts are dreaming. 

Symbol that they have gone their way, 

New duties stern fulfilling, 
Their country's debt to freely pay 

In silent deeds or thrilling; 
And we shall strive, from day to day. 

To quell all fancies chilling, 
Call pride our sadness to allay 

While hope our fears is stilling. 



H *t 



84 MARTIAL LYRICS 



JERUSALEM. 

•I 9i 

The sacred city falls, falls from the hand 
Wielding- in crusades centuries ago 
That flaming and subduing brand 
Which laid the unbelieving low ! 

What tragedies have you those ages known! 

The mountain fortress of the Jebusite 

Rallied in wild and headlong flight 

From valor of the Canaanite ; 

The destined seat of David's primitive throne, 

And consecrated by the holy Ark 

When unblest peoples wandered in the dark! 

Around your hill so famous by the zeal 

Of them who could a deep conviction feel, 

The waves of war dashed furious and long, 

And vanquished all but your devotion strong. 

The Persian, Roman, Greek, Arabian laid 

Their hard yoke on you, but they never made 

Your soul a captive ; that to other lands 

Departed, and obeyed the lightning-brought commands 

You, trembling, heard in Sinai's fiery sands. 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 85 

And in our glorious day the English sword 

Restores you to your ancient lord ; 

And calls your faithful votaries 

Back to your hallowed places, over lands and seas, 

To your beloved abode of peace 

Where conflicts of the spirit cease, 

In that dear holy land where trod 

The feet of patriarchs, prophets, and the Son of God, 

Again to dwell, again in joy to dwell 

On Zion's rock, by Siloam's soothing well; 

With you the centre of the world's religious lore 

Now, and tomorrow, and for ever more. 



*? ». 



S6 MARTIAL LYRICS 



THE AUSTRIAN TERMS. 

Four years! Four years 
Of hunger, misery, and tears ! 
Blithely you rushed into the arms 
Of that Delilah where she lay 
With smiles alluring, waiting for her prey; 
And deemed her long belauded charms 
All pains, all sorrows would repay. 
All anguish of the nation wipe away. 
Awaking from that dream of bliss, 
And feeling on your lips her consuming kiss, 
You strive to break those prison bars 
To wander yet once more beneath the stars 
Of meek, repudiated peace whose homely ways 
You had so scorned in those imperial days 
Lust of dominion made your festered soul 
Blind to the stern, impassive goal 
That nature sets for man's control. 
Behind you stands the vaunting hero of our time. 
Dejected, haggard, ageing in his prime, 
The senior partner in your futile crime ; 
His horns and cloven feet concealed 
In part by peaceful words, in part revealed 
By flashes of his shining sword 

And his mailed fists, those darlings of the Prussian 
lord: 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCR.\CY 87 

Seeking by stale and customary fraud 
When valor balks his plans, to be restored 
Only in that prized ante status quo 
Whence he may deal your honorable foe 
A deadlier blow. 

But we are pleased you own at last 
The hope of victory is past ; 
And offer, with some feelings of remorse, 
To mend your bold and bloody course. 
It is one step ; but nothing now may save 
Your dynasties from fate's appointed grave. 
Lay down the scepter, wrap your jewelled crown 
In deepest foldings of your purple gown; 
And to your people grant the precious power 
To ratify their mandate of this hour: 
Till that is done, we still shall stand 
On guard, with sword in hand. 



te H 



JANUARY J9I8 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 91 



ALSACE-LORRAINE. 

*? ^ 

Long, long ago when I was fair, 

They tore me from your side; 
And, crushed with sorrow, in despair. 

Bade me with them abide : 
But tortured so, I lived for you, 

O France, my France, my own; 
And vowed to be for ever true 

To you, to you alone. 

If I had yielded to their will, 

Had given my love to them, 
I had been called a sovereign still 

And worn a diadem ; 
But to their power I never knelt, 

O France, beloved so well; 
For in my heart of hearts you dwelt, 

And there will ever dwell. 

And now I go to you again. 

For England says I may, 
And that great land beyond the main, 

Which nothing can gainsay: 
Then we henceforth will never part, 

O France, my France so dear, 
Now dearer to my bleeding heart. 

And dearer every year, 



92 MARTIAL LYRICS 



BREST-LITOVSK. 

There, face to face, two systems stand; 
But one must fall ; the other may command, 
Perchance, the unknown future of the world. 
Brest, startled from its slumber, sees unfurled 
A hostile flag beneath whose haughty fold 
Sleek emissaries of some kingdoms old. 
Confront with sinister and rash designs 
The simple delegates whose policy enshrines 
Hopes of a people who had trodden down. 
Indignantly, the scepter and the crown. 

A relic of the past, the Prussian lord 
Disdains all charters save the sword, 
But that he worships as the nation's god 
By whose celestial favor he has trod 
On neck of freedom, and on man born free, 
So sanctioned, binds the yoke of slavery ; 
With spies fills many a peaceful land. 
Ordered to ply the dagger and the brand 
In argument convincing of his bloody hand; 
And tears up treaties when they awkward stand 
A barrier to his evil projects planned; 
Or dashes thro them, as but ropes of sand. 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 93 

On such wild counsels, children of the night, 
The revolted Slav would pour the purer light 
Of new opinion from a modern school, — 
The people only should the people rule; 
That war has had its long and terrible day, 
And should no more on the sad nations prey; 
That man and nature wearily ordain 
Odin and Mars themselves be slain, 
And the discarded trappings of their woe 
Be to posterity a gruesome show 
Of that dark time the race was young, 
And madly into baths of slaughter flung, 
With hymns of hate upon its frenzied tongue ; 
But now — but now, forsooth, has come of age, 
And should dismiss the tutors of its rage. 
Thus, face to face, two systems stand ; 
One, old, effete, and dying by the hand 
Of fate; the other, young, ablaze with zeal 
Its ideal doctrines to reveal. 



n wt 



94 MARTIAL LYRICS 



A GERMAN PEACE. 

A German peace ! Would it be aught 
But endless turmoils, battles fought 
Where bayonets pinned down the land 
Prostrated by that iron hand, 
Once free but writhing 'neath the sway 
Of odious force in that sad day? 
Could nations that had saved with blood 
And treasure, freedom from the flood 
Of soul-destroying tyranny, 
Contented live, supinely see 
The Teuton bind on them a yoke 
Which long ago their fathers broke? 

With brutal candor they declare 
Conquest is now the only fare 
On which will feed their haughty sword, 
And the sole business of its lord 
(Born on a cannon, in the school 
Of old oppression taught to rule 
An abject people) who aspires 
To trample down the patriot fires 
Burning in alien lands, and stack 
His furious arms and banner black 
In that grim temple whose doors close 
Never, to grant the world repose. 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 95 

Behold a truly German peace! 
Incessant conflict will not cease 
Until we lay that monster low. 
But yesterday he sought to sow 
Strife in our ranks, and frankly said 
His terms were to dominion wed; 
Nothing would he to justice yield, 
But like the Spartan, with his shield 
Or on it, would return. And now 
Our fate so shadowed, let us vow 
Never to sheath our sword while reigns 
That power, and clanks those dismal chains. 



n n 



96 MARTIAL LYRICS 



OUR CAPTAIN- 

To Cotp, L, D, R» 

Our Captain is the man of men, 
Nobler than skill of mine can pen ; 
And closer to our hearts each day 
We strive his orders to obey. 

Chorus : So let us fill the flowing bowl 

And drink to him with all our soul ; 
And where he leads we arm and go 
With confidence against the foe. 

He teaches us with patient care 
The rules of war, and does not flare 
In anger when we fail to learn 
With promptness all its lessons stern. 

Chorus : So let us fill the flowing bowl 

And drink to him with all our soul ; 
And where he leads we arm and go 
With confidence against the foe. 

He has a feeling for our needs 
When cash is short, and generous feeds 
Our purses till the happy day 
The Government remits our pay. 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 97 

Chorus : So let us fill the flowing bowl 

And drink to him with all our soul ; 
And where he leads we arm and go 
With confidence against the foe. 

He grants us furloughs freely too 
When we the City yearn to view, 
And to our bosom press the pearl 
We love the most — our own dear girl. 

Chorus : So let us fill the flowing bowl 

And drink to him with all our soul ; 
And where he leads we arm and go 
With confidence against the foe. 



I? J? 



98 * MARTIAL LYRICS 



AN ORDER OF THE DAY 

What means this uproar? Why these cries 
From every side that swell and rise 
To deafen the astonished skies? 
Tis but an order of the Chief 
Commanding us, for quick relief 
To commerce and to traffic sick; 
And see the air with protest thick; 
This sudden storm of rhetoric ! 

And shall civilians seek to stay 

The uplifted sword; and, frightened, say, 

Hurt no one, try another way! 

Was it for this we gave command 

To head our armies, and withstand 

The terrible foe on sea and land? 

And when is issued order one 

Turn pale, throw down our arms, and run ? 

By conduct such as that we gain 
No battles ; but excite disdain 
In bosom of the enemy, 
Jeering, when we in panic flee. 
Let us close ranks, pick up our arms, 
And from our hearts all vain alarms 
Banish, if we at last would see 
Writ on our banner — Victory ! 



FEBRUARY 19 18 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 101 



THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS. 
n •? 

Autocracy is dying: at its bier 

Its last defenders kneel in grief and fear, 

Mute gazing on that hard and wrinkled face 

Where every crime had left a hideous trace, 

With deep forebodings of the coming day 

Destined to end their long and evil sway. 

Sighs struggle thro their lips, and to their eyes 

Some meager drops from their black hearts arise, 

Drops never seen before, for that the sword 

So worshipped, was at last wrenched from their lord. 

And he lay dead amid those symbols red 

On which thro life their cruel souls had fed. 

A YiQw day dawns, and in its placid skies 

Of pearl and amber there a new flag flies. 

Beneath whose folds of crimson set in white 

A brotherhood of nations will unite 

To guard the costly triumphs of the free; 

Water and rear to full maturity 

The tree of peace, beneath whose pleasant boughs 

Man may develop all this earth allows; 

In noble toil live out his hundred years; 

Fight only wrong; and shed his willing tears 

Over injustice, till shall open wide 

The heavens, and down the fiery chariots glide. 



102 MARTIAL LYRICS 



CHAOS. 

The dreams of world dominion past, 
Comes to their consciousness at last 
Their true position, — lost, betrayed 
By them their loyalty had made 
Lords of their lives; the country rife 
With vassals of the demon strife; 
Hunger from which they can not flee, 
As ravenous as that cold sea 
Upbraiding on their Baltic shore ; 
And war demanding more and more 
Of life and treasure, as it goes 
Ruthless, and gloating o'er their woes. 

They see no more the days that glide 

So sweetly by, the calm fireside. 

The children climbing on their knee; 

No more they hear the minstrelsy 

That softened hearts, and sowed delight 

In every household ; but the sight 

Of vacant chairs and piteous gloom. 

Salutes their eyes in every room ; 

And added to such agony 

A shipwrecked virtue, bankruptcy 

Both physical and moral where 

They freely breathed in honor's air. 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 103 

Brought to such pass by rulers vile ; 

Hope stranded on the barren isle 

Of ultimate and dire defeat; 

Shunned by all nations as the seat 

Of wrong, dishonor, perfidy, 

On every side they sorrowing see 

The waves of retribution rise: 

A debt of so gigantic size 

Naught but repudiation pays; 

While heavier burdens conscience lays. 

Burning Cain's brand on their bent brow. 

And hell revealing here and now. 



a? i^ 



104 MARTIAL LYRICS 



TO THE SERBIANS* 
»? *i 

You fired a shot heard round the world ; 
And from his place the Austrian hurled, 
And paid the penalty of woe. 
And yet the hand that struck the blow- 
Was not your own: it was a force 
Invisible which moulds the course 
Of nations on the changeful earth, 
And ever longs for some new birth, 
Dissatisfied with each and all, 
And dooming them in turn to fall 
That other systems may arise. 
And perish 'mid our joy or sighs. 

But you have sufiFered, and we feel 
Our bosoms 'gainst the tyrants steel 
Still harder for your lonely sake. 
Their cruel power resolved to break. 
We see your cities overthrown; 
We hear your wives' and childrens' moan 
For bread across the stormy seas. 
Sons, fathers, drinking to the lees 
The wine of valor, and for this 
The rod of slavery made to kiss. 
In cages prisoned by your foes, 
And dying in starvation's throes. 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 105 

But this we say to them that still 
The hate of Austria could not kill : 
The time will come when in the air 
Of freedom flies your banner fair, 
Akin to ours its crested bars 
Red, white and blue ; and if the stars 
Be absent there, they shine above 
In tranquil, unforgotten love, 
xAnd signal us to set you free 
Who fought the Turkish tyranny 
Five hundred years ; or, failing, go 
United to the shades below. 



•? tt 



106 MARTIAL LYRICS 



THE HEROIC DEAD. 

Toll the solemn bell, 

Ring the pious knell 
Of them devoured by the hungry wave — 

In that splendid winding-sheet 

Where the skies and waters meet 
Those defenders which we gave 
First our freedom's cause to save 
Sleep, and calmly sleep the fallen brave ! 

Not in the storm of battle when the blood 

Races in one tumultuous flood 

Thro every vein ; or when, at close of day 

The eye which has kept watch alway 

Over the destiny 

Of bond and free. 

Sees from its red pavilion in the west 

One dear flag in the arms of triumph rest ; 

But in the silent night 

Asking a truce to manly fight. 

Unseen the men of Kultur smite 

A dastard blow, and safety seek in flight. 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 107 

Ring again the deepening knell, 

Tolling long the muffled bell, 
Till its meaning in our hearts 
Sinks, and a fervor fresh imparts 

To avenge the fallen brave 

Resting 'neath that distant wave, 
As our loins we sternly gird 
While its haunting tones are heard 
From each vale and hill to swell 
Where the hosts of freedom dwell, 
Echoing loud from shore to shore 
Vowed to freedom by the men of yore ! 



^ K 



108 MARTIAL LYRICS 



THE SACRIFICE. 
To H, J, W. 

Some where in France he wanders, and I know 
He thinks of me because I love him so : 
Yes, every day my tlioughts assemble round 
His cherished features, and I hear the sound 
Of his dear voice, when his light footsteps came 
V\^ith music in them: like a scorching flame 
I feel those memories cluster on my heart; 
But in a moment more the quick tears start, 
Relieving my despair; I smile again, 
And those smiles struggle thro my clouds of pain, 
And wrap the sad, bleak landscape of my life 
With soft illusions in this world of strife. 

How calm and confident in those first days 
His bearing was ! How full of joy and praise 
His language that his countrymen at last 
The gage of battle at the foe had cast ; 
That the oppressor of the world would meet 
At our avenging hands a vast defeat. 
He ill could brook the inevitable delay 
That held him from the ardor of the fray, 
To chastise, as he said, the evil power 
Drenching the earth with such Egyptian shower 
Of blood, and falsely claiming that its sword. 
Its ruthless sword, was guided by the Lord. 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 109 

I gave him to his country, tho it tore 

My heart strings; yet for it and him I bore 

The anguish, and will bear it to the end. 

And if at last his kindly fortune send 

Him back to me, with martial honors crowned, 

Or but an obscure hero, unrenowned, 

I shall be paid in full for every tear, 

For every sigh, in my lone chamber here; 

And I will fold him in my withered heart, 

And never more from me shall he depart ; 

But if he falls, and for his country dies, 

I, too, will lay me down, and close my eyes. 



n n 



110 MARTIAL LYRICS 



THE INVASION OF RUSSIA* 
ft? n 

Snow, ice, cold, wilder winds than blow 
With the tornado, silence, woe 
Pinching the face of nature, life 
Ever wishing to give up its strife 
With the fierce elements, and lay- 
Its shrunk bones in their mother clay, 
Days born from themselves, aged night 
Casting a gloom, a pall, a blight 
On the sad soul, — into this land 
The Germans stagger by command 
Of that pernicious lust for power 
Which beckons on the victor's fatal hour. 

A mightier one plunged in those snows, 
One who had vanquished all his foes 
Save fate and nature which combined 
To discipline his haughty mind. 
To teach him that there is a bound 
Man shall not pass, where death is found 
Lying in wait with bier and shroud 
To bend and break his spirit proud: 
Thus shall his sorry outlawed type 
Rush on destruction, as grow ripe 
His giant crimes, and the world sees 
The great gulf fixed between their destinies. 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY HI 



CAMOUFLAGE. 

Von Herding talks, and in his sleeve 
Laughs softly at them who believe 
His cunning words : his is the role 
To set up dummies, and cajole 
The credulous with hopes of peace. 
While at the front the leaders increase 
Their efforts, and fresh numbers throw, 
Despite the truce, against their foe : 
He seeks to drive an artful wedge 
Between the Allies, by some pledge 
Evasive, vague, he will not keep 
But only made to lull the world asleep. 

Meantime, the crafty Potsdam crew 
Their desperate deep designs renew; 
Enlarge their armies, and invade 
New countries, their familiar trade, 
To execute their primal plan 
For which this conflict they began — 
The conquest of the world : dark, cold, 
By no fear in such project bold 
Restrained, before them ever lies 
That book of maxims which despise 
Faith with antagonists, and praise 
Fraud, force, as the sole laws a Prince obeys. 



112 MARTIAL LYRICS 



THE COMMAND OF THE SEAS. 

What tho the Russians helpless lie, 
And to their glory say good-bye, 
Our withers are unwrung; we tread 
The earth as proudly, have no dread 
With German arms contending, all 
Before our fortune doomed to fall, 
To expiate in blood and tears 
The foulest orgies of the years ; 
And battles over, be at last 
Among the nations for that past 
So ghastly, termed the modern Hun 
Which every righteous state perforce must shun. 

What tho the Russians chose to fly, 
To glory say a sad good-bye; 
W^e mourn for them, and heave a sigh 
That heroes see their country die. 
And wish to live ; but we command 
The boundless seas and they the land; 
And while that strangle hold is ours. 
Vain are the struggles of the Powers : 
Or soon or late they must succumb. 
The voices of their guns grow dumb; 
And as our bells ring out peace chimes 
Kneel, and seek pardon for their thousand crimes. 



MARCH-APRIL J9I8 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 115 

PEACE BY THE SWORD. 

The mask has fallen; and no more 
Charging their neighbors thirst for gore, 
Or that they can not sleep at night 
Because the Russians schemed to smite 
Them unawares, they throw aside 
Idle pretences, ranging far and wide 
Defenseless lands, on plunder bent, 
Led by their temper violent 
And their peculiar god 
Who carries for the innocent a heavy rod. 
The patron of splendid rascality. 
To whom alone they bend the knee, 
Swollen with arrogance, with conquest drunk, 
And in morasses of dishonor sunk. 

To this we make but one reply: 

That spirit or democracy must die; 

They can not, hating, side by side, 

Both in this narrow world abide. 

Shall we surrender, and prepare the way 

For sad return to grim despotic sway 

From such a throne 

As Lucifer might own. 

And kneel in temples builded by the sword 

On skulls and blood, where Moloch is adored 

With blinding sorrow as the only Lord; 

Or dedicate ourselves anew 

To crush forever that despoiling crew. 

And to earth bring 

Peace by the sword, while anthems ring 

And freedom joyful waves her purple wing? 



116 MARTIAL LYRICS 



NICHOLAS ROMANOFR 

*i »? 
Here, and so fallen ! I who had enjoyed 
The splendors of a throne, with flattery cloyed. 
And held by my own will the life or death 
Of millions ! Now cast down I draw my breath, 
And every breath I draw is linked with pain. 
And testifies how hollow, fleeting, vain 
The cherished things of life ; how friends fall off 
When fortune goes ; how foes deride and scoff ; 
How weariness assails the spirit, pride 
Departing too in which we could abide 
The slanders of the world, dwell in its light 
Till the soul fades into that vast of night! 

What heritage was mine ! How passing great 
The empire builded by the Tsars and fate, 
A.nd lost by me ! No wider sway was known 
Than that my ancient scepter ruled alone; 
All races of the earth beneath it dwelt, 
To every god in heaven's hierarchy knelt, 
No laws molesting ; on the fertile land 
Plenty with industry went hand in hand. 
With love abounding, from the Baltic wave 
To where the ocean's grandiose billows lave 
Kamshatka cliffs, and where Caucasus peers 
Among the clouds thro the eternal years. 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 117 

And I was weak, and let that pearl of power 

Slip from my brow ! And in an evil hour 

I listened to false counsels, and betrayed 

The nation in that crisis when was laid 

On my decision the doom of the world: 

In gulfs of ruin have I witless hurled 

Myself and Russia ! But they who followed trod 

Paths I recoiled from in the fear of God: 

I never ceded lands, nor threw my arms 

Away, seduced by the perfidious charms 

Of foes Satanic. With all so lost, death's frown 

Is welcome in this far Siberian town! 



^ H 



118 MARTIAL LYRICS 



THE SOMME. 

In storm of shot and shell 

That on their serried masses fell. 

Destruction dealing fast, 

The foe in waves rolled past 

And dashed with furious shock 

Against the living rock 

Of British infantry, and dashed in vain : 

The dead and dying heaped the plain. 

Columns were withered and battalions swept away 

In that stentorian, hideous play 

Of sulphurous winds which on them sprung, 

Lapping their lives with fiery tongue. 

The mortars and the cannons roar, 

Shells spout in streams and wildly soar, 

Then shrieking fall and blindly crash 

Thro flesh and bone, and rifles flash 

From every trench and to the din add their report, 

The quivering air is lashed by harsh retort 

Of burly howitzer and magazine ; 

Above, the strong-lunged aviators are dimly seen, 

Watching like birds of prey, and on the weltering plain 

Drop flaming bombs, the slain are piled upon the slain, 

A cloud of gas and smoke the combatants enfolds, 

But the line holds, the line for freedom holds. 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 119 

But on and on still came 

Fresh numbers thro the deadly flame, 

Marching in blood, and step by step drove back 

With sullen strength and rush demoniac 

The brave defenders, tho they paid a toll 

Of lives so numberless to reach such goal 

In their bad cause, it was defeat: 

Tomorrov^ they v^ill meet 

The same ensanguined sleet ; 

Tomorrow they will greet 

Not victory but death, as back the human tide is rolled ; 

For to the end that line will hold. 



H K 



120 MARTIAL LYRICS 



ONE YEAR. 

Long has the battle raged; the desperate foe, 
Gambling with fate, has made a final throw ; 
And when that card on the dread black and white 
Fails, all is lost, and in the hopeless night 
Of merited defeat, his wicked cause 
Which drove out faith, and trampled fairest laws 
Divine and human, will have pressed the lips 
Of overthrow and permanent eclipse: 
The flotsam of stern seas, quite out of date 
Beside the freedom of a modern state 
On honor based, justice, equality, 
War must eradicate such leprosy. 

For now America awakes, and sees 

The offered cup must be drained to the lees ; 

Unstinted force must in the breach be thrown 

That an autocracy so bloody grown 

May be cast down, and in the bitter dust 

Prostrated, to expiate its vengeful lust 

Of world-wide power, that peoples of the earth 

Be guaranteed the title of their birth, — 

Peace, liberty, a road to happiness : 

This benign land under the storm and stress 

Of a sad duty is aroused to smite. 

Like them of old, the new Amelikite. 



POEMS ON THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY 121 

Fed from our earliest days on victory, 

We drew the sword to save democracy ; 

Force without stint or limit will we use, 

Sustained by feelings that we can not lose. 

From selfish purposes so proudly free; 

And now, confronting for humanity. 

The last remaining despots of the world. 

With flags of plunder and of hate unfurled, 

A righteous strength to our blessed arms is lent 

The vaunting Hun in sackcloth will lament: 

These, added to a wealth imposing, ring 

The knell remorseless of that monstrous thing. 



^ n 



MARTIAL LYRICS: Poems on the War for 
Democracy. 

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